There's a new therapy dog in town

LACONIA — Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Laconia Rehabilitation Center has had to forgo therapy dogs — until now.

The rehabilitation center primarily caters to elders in need of recovery from surgery before returning home, but also has long-term residents.

Like any facility of its kind, joy can be a rare commodity, depending on the day. Residents push themselves on wheelchairs or shuffle along the halls as nurses and other staff weave among them to carry out their duties. A calm, quiet, brown-eyed poodle by the name of Lottie gently ping-pongs between residents, offering emotional support and a physical connection. At the other end of her leash is Kathy Curran, a retired mental health professional and life-long dog owner.

“I've been in the counseling and health fields all my life, and I'm a huge dog lover,” said Curran, Lottie's owner. “I've always liked the idea, but I never had the time until I retired. Luckily, when I got a puppy, she turned out to be a perfect, intuitive dog to do this.”

Before her retirement, Curran was a professor and department head of the human services addiction counseling mental health program at New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord. Curran also practiced as a licensed clinical mental health counselor.

“We used to have dogs, but it's been long time because of COVID,” said Dana Kenny, the center's recreation director, confirming that Lottie is the first of her kind to come back to the center since the pandemic. “She's like an honorary member of the team. When Lottie's going around, you just see everybody's faces light up.”

During her rounds on Friday morning, Lottie stopped by to see resident Pat Dame, one of her biggest fans at Genesis Laconia Rehabilitation Center.

“She's a super girl, isn't she?” Dame said as she fed Lottie a morsel from a large plastic bag full of treats, continuing that she  “I love [the program].”

After a loving embrace and a quick visit to two more residents in the room, Lottie and Curran headed down the hall.

“She can see up to 30 people in one hour,” Curran said. “She could be in [Dame's room] for 20 minutes, and other folks, they just need a quick hello, a quick pat,” Curran continued. “Our association only allows us to be in a facility for one hour at a time for the dog's sake. She goes home and sleeps for two hours. She takes on every tear, every emotion.”

Lottie also provides a vital service to isolated or struggling residents.

“The thing with Lottie is that we have some residents that cannot communicate or tend to not participate in social events, and so she's able to reach out to those residents in a way that we can't,” Kenny said. “She's just been a blessing to everyone here.”

Looking at Lottie, one could assume she's had years of practice and training, but the therapy poodle is just a year and a half old. After noticing Lottie's particularly calm demeanor, Curran got involved with the Alliance of Therapy Dogs and put her through training.

“There were eight weeks of training,” Curran recalled. “To become certified, she had three observations out in the community, two of which were at medical facilities. That was at the White Mountain College for Pets in Holderness.”

A vital part of Lottie's training was socialization. Curran took walks in Laconia and Concord as well as in retail spaces to socialize her as much as possible. According to Curran, Lottie's favorite store is Home Depot.

“She likes the wood section,” Curran said. “It's huge and open, so she loves Home Depot.”

In addition to the rehabilitation center, Lottie also moonlights at the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton and Plymouth State University's Wellness Animal Group. At only 18 months old, expectations are that Lottie has a long and fruitful career ahead of her.